Korean Traditional Weddings: A Unique and Memorable Experience

Recently, I attended a friend's wedding, but it was quite different from what I'm used to. It was a traditional Korean wedding.

In Korea, most weddings take place in large wedding halls. The bride and groom, dressed in a wedding gown and tuxedo, celebrate with their guests. In these modern weddings, you can really see Korea’s famous "hurry-up" culture. From the moment the couple walks down the aisle to when they leave, the ceremony usually lasts only about 30 minutes. Even if you include greeting the guests before the ceremony and taking pictures with family and friends afterward, everything is wrapped up in about an hour.

However, many young couples today aren’t fond of this rushed style. They feel that such a special moment in their lives shouldn’t be treated like a mass-produced product on a factory line. As a result, more couples are opting for small weddings in unique venues, with only a few close friends and family in attendance.

The traditional wedding I attended was one of these small, intimate ceremonies. Today, I’d like to share more about Korean traditional weddings, which are unfamiliar even to many Koreans.

How a Korean Traditional Wedding is Performed?

The Groom Visits the Bride's Home

The groom makes his way to the bride's house. During this procession, there's someone called a "기럭아비" (girukabi) who accompanies the groom and presents a wooden wild goose (기러기) to him. This role is often played by the groom’s or bride’s younger brother or friend. The wild goose symbolizes harmony in marriage, as geese are known for mating for life. If you look at old paintings of traditional Korean weddings from the Joseon Dynasty, you’ll often see the girukabi leading the procession to the bride’s house, carrying the symbolic goose.

Greeting the Mother-in-Law

Once the groom arrives, he greets his mother-in-law by presenting the goose on a small table and bowing twice. This is a way of showing gratitude for raising the bride. The mother-in-law then accepts the goose and takes it inside the house.

The Bride and Groom Meet

The bride enters and stands across from the groom. Both of them wash their hands, symbolizing a new beginning. The bride bows twice, and the groom bows once in return. This process is repeated, after which the bride and groom sit down facing each other.

Becoming One

The bride and groom offer alcohol and food to the heavens in a ritual of respect. They then exchange drinks with each other using cups made from a single gourd that’s been split in two, symbolizing their union as one. They also perform a ceremony to vow their commitment to each other as a married couple.

Honoring the Parents

Now united as a couple, the bride and groom offer deep bows to both sets of parents, thanking them for their support. They also bow to the guests to express their gratitude for attending. With this, the traditional wedding ceremony comes to an end.

➤ Today, we explored Korean traditional weddings, a beautiful ceremony filled with meaningful rituals. The wedding I attended was accompanied by traditional music, making the experience even more special, even for me as a Korean.

Modern weddings often feel rushed, with barely enough time to properly celebrate. As more young couples seek smaller, more personal weddings, I think we’ll start to see more of these traditional ceremonies making a comeback.